Gwendoline

Gwendoline is 22 years old. She is married and lives in the busy town of Lusaka, Zambia. She is expecting her first child. She runs a mobile money transfer business in the city centre.

Gwendoline is a hard working woman who has been able to increase the commissions she receives from the money transfer transactions. She has managed to employ one person at her trading booth. She is convinced that her business will be successful because it is what her customers need, and is located at the city centre, convenient for everyone.

Her greatest challenge is the lack of money in the business. Right now, Gwendoline is operating with a minimum working capital of $1000. This is not enough because it limits the number of customers she can attend to, especially since she is located at one of the busiest places in town.

As her customers are very important to her, Gwendoline wants to use the loan money to increase her working capital. This will also enable her to serve her customers that are sending and receiving larger sums of money. She says having more money in the business will also help her earn more profits. The anticipated increase in her profit margins will give Gwendoline a chance to give her unborn child a better life.

Gwendoline dreams of expanding her business by opening more mobile money transfer shops.

Additional Information

More information about this loan

This loan is a combination of the following: 1) Capital Growth Loan: An asset-based loan provided to both existing and new Zoona agents for setting-up or expanding their mobile transactions business. Part of the amount is an in-kind loan to enable agents to acquire assets for their mobile transaction business. For existing agents, the loan is designed to inject medium-term working capital assistance to purchase additional assets or expand to new locations thereby helping their businesses grow. 2) Electronic Float Advance: Short-term liquidity assistance to qualifying Zoona agents to allow them to make mobile money payments when their electronic balance is too low to meet their immediate business needs. The loan is intended to provide borrowers with a boost to their electronic float to allow them to handle more revenue generating transactions and also give them a means to support transactions during peak demands. The borrowers will be able to draw down their electronic advance on a per-transaction basis. There are no monthly repayments, rather the borrowers will earn less commission on per transaction basis on the funds utilized from the advance. Repayments will include fixed monthly repayments for the capital growth portion and a bullet payment at the end of an 18-month term for the electronic float advance. By supporting this loan, you’re helping an entrepreneur set up or expand their business.

About Zoona:

Zoona is a mobile money operator that invests in emerging entrepreneurs in Africa who are transforming their communities.

In Africa, there is a tremendous pool of entrepreneurs, business owners, and young people who dream of making money and serving their communities but who are struggling to find the resources and support to reach their full potential.

Zoona offers entrepreneurs an opportunity to build their own businesses and create wealth and employment through mobile payment solutions, financial services, business management tools and support.

The network of Zoona outlets in urban and rural areas enables unbanked and financially excluded individuals the ability to transact in an easy, quick and safe manner with family, friends, and other service providers. This is a step change improvement in countries like Zambia, where the majority of transactions are still conducted in cash and are thus inefficient, insecure, and expensive. Zoona's unique model of enabling emerging entrepreneurs to provide mobile money services to consumers has the potential to significantly push the boundaries of financial inclusion in Africa.